Is there something wrong with me?

Yesterday I woke up at 5.15am simply to run 3 miles, before I caught my train to DC.

10 miles, 11 miles, no problem, or slight problem, or this sucks

Today, 11 miles, alone (well Ollie was there somewhere... in the woods, stalking innocent woodland creatures). So here is the conundrum. I deserve a drink tonight. Alas, only enought vodka for one vodka tonic. Should I make it for myself? Or my wife? I got it... persuade her she wants a beer. "Hey Leigh, you want a Peroni? Nice and cold.... been in the fridge all day?" "No thanks" she says. Cool I'm in, she doesn't want a drink tonight. "I'll take a VT, please." She calls down from upstairs a minute later. Damn her.

Isn't she great? No really. She then says, "there is more vodka in the pantry." Score.

So despite not keeping up with my blogging, I've been keeping up with my training. Last week I ran 2 of my three short runs and then 10 miles on Sunday. This week i really pushed a 4.5 mile run (ended with a huge hill.. okay i didn't make it to the top, but isn't it better to slowly approach the top of the hill? That way you don't rush the beautiful vista.) and a 5k. Then today i ran 11 miles.

What did I learn? That is is way easier to run 10 miles while listening to your friend bullshit for an hour and a half on various topics like: "This is how bad a movie Avatar is..."; and "I'm on a paleo-diet, focusing on nuts and berries and lean meats..."; and the always entertaining "There are a lot of commonalities between the 17th century pirates and and today's Church of Latter Day Saints*"

God bless John Dag for coming down and running with me and keeping my mind off all the pain I was in. Without his trenchant perspective on 21st century social proclivities and the latest fad in fitness, i would be stuck counting the number of paces until the next turn.... which is what i did during today's run.

John please come back in 2 weeks when I have to run 13 miles.

*I may have made that last topic up.

Can you believe it is 2010?

So I heard a band this morning called "We were promised jetpacks." To all the GI Joe/$6 Dollar Man fans... never a truer statement was made (that is a figure of speech). Just hearing their name really brought me back. We spent hours running around the yard, the house, the school pretending to have jetpacks on our backs. We looked to the future with such promise... someday we said.... someday soon.

But alas, it is 2010 and I'm not floating around on sack full of compressed hot air, I'm running in the cold New Jersey real life.

Actually, haven't been doing much running in the past week. The last 8 days have seen a 2, 3, and 4.5 mile run only. "Come on, two measly miles" you say. I actually had something to take to the post office and it is only a mile away...

Last week it was cold as hell here in NJ. The thermometer read between 18-30 degrees, but the winds were gusting to 25 mph. Even Ollie didn't want to run. Also, we have seen a bit of the Fall of the House of Fisher. Leigh has been down with Bronchitis /Flu for 8 days now, and Austen has a cold and ear infection. Leaving Sayre to do all the domestic housework, cooking, cleaning and caring for the ill. Means haven't had much chance to go for a jog (soft 'j').

One thing I haven't conveyed in these posts yet was that although i love to bitch about running, my typical route is beautiful. I run along the Delaware and Raritan Canal. Yesterday I saw 2 Redtail Hawks, one sitting about 10 feet above my head... to cold to even fly away from me... also saw a woodpecker ( i think a red headed), and a few Herons. I get to run through woods and through Princeton University along the way. It is really quite an enjoyable scene.

Someday i'll take a picture.